4 Mr. C. F. M. Swynncrtoii on the 



[Mucuna coriacea), vhich clustered everywhere in the tall 

 grass and bush and let fall their velvety stings on us in 

 showers as w-e worked, forcing them to scrape themselves 

 with sticks and sharp-edged stones. The paths which I thus 

 opened up were greatly appreciated by the birds : I counted 

 fifteen individuals of Spermestes nigriceps, eight of Lagono- 

 sticta Jamesoni (in pairs), one of Laniarius olivaceus, a pair 

 of Cisticola cinerascens, and a few female Weaver-birds, all 

 feeding together on the ground within a few yards ; and this 

 was the sort of sight which might be witnessed at intervals 

 all along the paths every morning. 



The scrub of the Northern Melsetter kloofs, to wliich 

 I shall also have frequent occasion to refer, is composed, 

 mostly of Budleia salvifulia, a sweet-scented Smithia (near 

 S. Harmsiana) , a somewhat larger j^schynomene, and dense 

 thickets of a curious Sequoia-\We fern (Gleichenia umhra- 

 culifera) and of a widely-straggling Choristylis. The dense 

 forest-patches of these higher elevations (5000 to 8000 feet) 

 are very different in character to those of either Southern 

 Melsetter, the Jihu, or the lowlands, being intermediate in 

 the size of the trees between Chirinda and the latter, but 

 with very few species in common with either ; the most 

 characteristic are Curtisia faginea, Ciissonia umbeUifera, a 

 Mcesa, and, particularly on Mount Pene, a large handsome 

 Sizijghim. Two conifers are also met with in some numbers 

 — Widdringtonia IVhytei, which yields the most valuable 

 timber in South-eastern Africa, and Podocarpus milanjiana. 



I have already, in my former paper, mentioned Chirinda 

 and the smaller forest-patches of Southern Melsetter ; so 

 far as I am aware, they are the only forests with really big 

 trees in the country, some of these trees reaching to over a 

 hundred and fifty feet in height. 



In the accompanying map (Plate I.) will be found all 

 the localities mentioned in this and my former paper. The 

 initials " Rh.^' and " P." after each name in the following 

 list stand throughout for '' Rhodesia ^^ and "Portuguese 

 East Africa ^' respectively, and indicate the side of the 

 border on which the species was found. 



